Rocket launch proves successful on fourth attempt

An Atlas 5 rocket successfully launched an Orbital ATK Cygnus cargo spacecraft December 6 after three days of delays, resuming deliveries of essential supplies and experiments to the International Space Station by USA companies.

Orbital ATK was able to mount a second supply mission so quickly after last year’s rocket failure by collaborating with the US launch provider United Launch Alliance (ULA), which provided the Atlas V rocket that lofted Cygnus into space Sunday evening. Shortly after that failure, Orbital purchased an Atlas 5 launch from ULA to fulfill its contractual requirements to NASA to deliver cargo to the ISS.

The payload is a Cygnus space capsule containing supplies for the International Space Station. “Cygnus will spend more than a month attached to the space station, before its destructive re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere, disposing of about 3,000 pounds of trash”. The entire launch to spacecraft separation took 21 minutes and the Cygnus is now in an orbit at an altitude of 124 mi (200 km) and an inclination of 51.6º.

It was followed eight months later by a SpaceX rocket explosion, and the consecutive accidents effectively shut off the flow of U.S. supplies to astronauts in orbit.

Orbital ATK and SpaceX – which has a contract value Dollars 1.6 billion to ship meals and gear to the analysis lab over a collection of provide journeys – are the one two United States corporations that may ship spacecraft to the ISS. These contributions include a 10-foot diameter composite heat shield on the launch vehicle, manufactured using advanced fiber placement manufacturing techniques at Orbital ATK’s Iuka, Mississippi, facility.

The Cygnus capsule, expected to arrive on Wednesday, will be the first USA shipment to the station since April. It launched aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. That connection will be the first berthing to the port in many years, NASA officials said. It’s carrying about 7,300 pounds (about 3,300 kg) of food, hardware, and scientific equipment for Expedition 44 crew members. Russian Federation also lost a supply ship earlier this year.

“I’m guessing that Santa’s sleigh is somewhere inside the Cygnus”, Culbertson added.

Science payloads will support science and research investigations that will occur during the space station’s Expeditions 45 and 46, including experiments in biology, biotechnology, physical science and Earth science – research that impacts life on Earth, the release said.

The liftoff has marked NASA’s first resupply mission by Orbital ATK since the loss of its previous Cygnus vehicle and Antares rocket in October past year. “And they’re probably excited about their stockings coming up, too”.